obama,sident barack mandela was a strong political and personal influence. he paid tribute last night. i am joined by the former ambassador to south africa under president george bush who worked with mandela. also with us is bloomberg political analyst matthew dowd. rick to have you with us. ambassador, -- >> -- great to have you with us. ambassador, let me start with you. tell us about what your meetings were like with him. >> the thing that really struck me was his level of graciousness and humility. he was not a big man, but he was larger than life in my eyes, and he struck me as a gentle soul. he offered me a tremendous level of encouragement, and he was very positive in terms of the interactions between me and him, and also felt that we had the opportunity to continue to strengthen the relationship between both south africa and the united states. >> matthew dowd, i want to play one part of the president's tribute to nelson mandela, where he was really emotional talking about his influence on him. >> we have lost one of the most influential, courageous,